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Memorials and Eagle Courts of Honor

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I’ve told this story before, but I think it’s fitting to repeat as we move into the Memorial Day weekend.

Many new Eagle Scouts have lost loved ones who played a role in their Scouting journey, and it’s entirely appropriate to memorialize those people in some way. How to do that, how to strike just the right tone, can be challenging.

Several years back, an Eagle mom named Debbie Borden told me about her son Tim’s court of honor—a great example of how to honor a lost loved one.

Tim’s grandfather had been active in their troop for more than 50 years and was an important part of Tim’s Scouting years. Sadly, he passed away before he could see Tim become an Eagle Scout, but his presence was felt at Tim’s court of honor.

Tim often wore his grandfather’s red patch jacket to Scout functions. At his court of honor, Tim hung the jacket next to the chair where he sat. As he received his Eagle Scout badge from his brother Brian (himself an Eagle Scout), Tim held the sleeve of his grandfather’s jacket—a simple, poignant tribute to the tangible and intangible gifts his grandfather had left him.

Debbie told me, “As a mother, watching my son accept his brother as an Eagle Scout was the proudest day of my life. I could have not been prouder of my two Eagle Scouts on that day.”

For more great ideas, check out my ebook, Showtime: 45 Top Tips from EagleBook.com and The Eagle Court of Honor Book; it costs just $2.99 and is available for immediate download from both EagleBook.com and Amazon.com.